I just received a notice from the Metanexus listserve regarding the spring lecture series sponsored by the Center for the Study of Science and Religion (CSSR) at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. It looks as though Philip Kitcher, a prominent philosopher of science at Columbia University, is taking a different tack in the science wars. Recognizing he has no case to make when it comes to demarcation criteria, he’s decided to argue that ID is an instance of dead science that should remain dead, after which he’ll outline what he thinks follows for religious belief from this state of affairs.
Wednesday, April 26th, 2006, 6:30-8:00
Darwin, Design, and the Future of Faith
Professor Kitcher will suggest that the best way to understand Intelligent Design is to see it as a piece of dead science. He will try to show why it died, why it should remain dead, why he will kill it again if necessary, why others should take up the task of killing it, why scientific cleansing of dead science is an intellectual imperative, and what consequences for religious belief follow from its death. [This paragraph slightly embellished for clarity. –WmAD]
Location: Davis Auditorium [Columbia University]
Philip Kitcher, Ph.D.
John Dewey Professor of Philosophy, Columbia UniversityProfessor Kitcher’s areas of specialization include philosophy of science, biology, and mathematics. His interests focus on general questions in the philosophy of science, problems in the philosophy of biology, and issues in the philosophy of mathematics. He is currently interested in the ethical and political constraints on scientific research, the evolution of altruism and morality, and the apparent conflict between science and religion.
His work attempts to connect these questions with the central philosophical issues of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, with the history of philosophy and with the practice and findings of the sciences, past and present. His numerous publications include: The Lives to Come: The Genetic Revolution and Human Possibilities, Science, Truth and Democracy, and In Mendel’s Mirror: Philosophy Reflections on Biology. Professor Kitcher also serves on the administrative council of the Columbia University Center for Bioethics.